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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28323066">The Night Before Christmas</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bccalling/pseuds/bccalling'>bccalling</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shameless (US)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Christmas Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Married Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich, No Spoilers, Season/Series 11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:13:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,425</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28323066</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bccalling/pseuds/bccalling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Mickey catches Franny snooping under the tree late Christmas eve.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Frances "Franny" Gallagher &amp; Mickey Milkovich, Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>207</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Night Before Christmas</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Just a little Christmas fluff with some Uncle Mickey and Franny bonding.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <hr/><p>It's nearly midnight when Mickey hears little feet on the stairs; the entire house silent except for the familiar skip of Franny's step as she sneaks down to the living room. Mickey can tell she's trying to be quiet, and he smiles at how utterly terrible she is at sneaking, as he pushes himself up out of bed and pads down the stairs himself, careful to avoid any noisy steps as he goes.</p><p>When he reaches the bottom, he finds her exactly where he expected. She's standing beside the tree, her snowflake pajamas glittering in the multicolored lights as she carefully shakes a neatly wrapped package by her ear before staring at it curiously.</p><p>Mickey watches her for a moment, entertained at the show she makes of her snooping before he lets her know he's there. </p><p>"Hey, Snowflake," he whispers finally, just loud enough for Franny to hear. </p><p>She jumps a little, turning wide, guilty eyes to Mickey before glancing down at the neatly wrapped gift in her hands. She drops it with a little flinch, and it hits the floor with a dull thud. "I's just guessing, Uncle Mickey!" she defends quickly, and Mickey can see her lower lip start to tremble.</p><p>He swoops in instantly then, crossing the distance to her quickly, and kneeling to meet her eyes, which she averts quickly to the ground. "Hey, kiddo, it's okay," he assures, and she glances up nervously, chewing her lip even as she pouts, "I won't tell, I promise."</p><p>"Really?" she asks suspiciously, nervous eyes darting between Mickey and the floor.</p><p>"Really," Mickey smiles, watches as the tension melts away and she smiles back a little shyly. "Tell ya what," he continues, reaching behind her to riffle through the boxes beneath the tree for a moment, before pulling out a familiar package adorned in snowflakes and silver ribbon, and Mickey thinks to himself again that Ian went a little overboard with the wrapping, but it brings a renewed smile to his face as he holds the gift out for Franny, "you want to open one now?"</p><p>Her eyes light up brighter than the tree beside her and she beams ear to ear as she nods vigorously in Mickey's direction.</p><p>"All right, let's go, then." He scoops her up and smiles at the little giggle she gives as she wraps her arms around his neck and rests her head against his cheek. He deposits her on the couch and sits beside her, handing her the present he still holds.</p><p>She takes it carefully, her eyes still wide with excitement as she scooches back into the cushions and leans up against Mickey's side. "Who's it from?" she asks curiously, her tiny voice carrying far enough that Mickey lifts a finger to his lips in reminder. She nods an affirmation and mimics Mickey's movements, blowing out a less than quiet "shhh" and causing Mickey to huff a laugh.</p><p>He smiles at her again and reaches out to draw her attention. "Read the tag," he instructs, pointing to the glittery white gift tag in the corner of the package.</p><p>"Oh," he hears her gasp, drawing the sound out just a little before she looks up at him, "it's pretty."</p><p>"Whatever you say, kid," he agrees, watching her squint to read in the dim light of the Christmas tree.</p><p>"To Franny," she reads carefully  enunciating the words as she does, "From Uncle Ian and Uncle Mickey." She pauses then, eyes lifting back to Mickey's as she exclaims, "That's you!" in a failed whisper.</p><p>Mickey laughs and nods in agreement. "That it is." For a moment, she looks thoughtful as she watches him quietly, assessing. Mickey's not sure what to make of that reaction, so he reaches out again to tap the present in her hands and urges, "open it, kid."</p><p>"Uncle Ian won't care?" she finally asks, her voice quiet and unsure.</p><p>Mickey's impressed at her restraint, but he waves off the question. "Nah, Uncle Ian won't mind. It's just a little one."</p><p>As soon as the words are out of his mouth, Franny's smile is beaming again, and she's ripping at the wrapping excitedly, leaving shreds of glittery paper in her wake until there's nothing left and she holds up her prize triumphantly to study it in the faint glow of the Christmas lights. She smiles bright as she turns to Mickey and announces, "it's a Christmas book!"</p><p>"It is," Mickey nods his agreement, amused at Franny's excitement. He'd worried a bit that she wouldn't like it—reading had never been Mickey's favorite pastime when he was a kid—but this one held some memories, and Ian had convinced him that Franny would love it and promised Mickey could just blame it on him if she didn't. Apparently, Mickey had worried for nothing.</p><p>"I love it!" Franny exclaims as she opens the cover carefully to marvel at the colorful illustrations. </p><p>Mickey smiles genuinely and reaches out to give her shoulder an affectionate little squeeze. "I'm glad, kiddo." He watches her for a few more moments as she traces a finger delicately over the words on the page. After a bit, he continues, voice barely a murmur, "You know, Franny, when I was little like you, my mom used to read me this story every Christmas eve. It was my favorite."</p><p>"Your mommy?" Franny asks curiously, tilting her chin up so she can meet his eyes. He's worried for a moment that she'll ask—that he'll have to figure out a way to tell her about his mom's death or his shitty childhood—but when he nods, she just nods back and drops her eyes to the story again as she murmurs, "my mommy reads me stories, too, sometimes."</p><p>Mickey doesn't want to tred much further down this particular line of conversation, so he just gives another nod and hums thoughtfully in response, an attempt at avoiding the slew of questions he knows the kid's capable of.</p><p>Luck is on his side, it seems, when Franny goes back to her book, flipping pages carefully and examining each one. He watches her fondly, content to sit quietly and let her do her thing. He knows he should probably shuffle her back off to bed, but he figures she wasn't sleeping anyway and neither was he, so what fucking difference did it make anyway?</p><p>A few more long moments, and Franny's raising her eyes to Mickey's again, that hopeful look she gets when she wants something plastered on her little face. "Uncle Mickey?" she asks quietly. He gives her an eyebrow raise in response, prompting her to keep going, and she takes the hint. "Will you read it to me?" </p><p>She holds out the book then, puppy dog eyes out in full force, and Mickey would have to be made of fucking stone to deny the kid. So he takes the book from her little hands with a nod, and she beams at him with that damn smile, and Mickey'd be lying if he said he wasn't fond of the kid.</p><p>"Sure, Snowflake," he agrees quietly.</p><p>When he goes to open the book, he's stopped by Franny pulling at his arm until he lets the book go and opens his arm up for her. Once he does, she crawls up into his lap, settling herself where she can rest her head back against his shoulder, snuggling close until she's comfortable. "Okay," she finally voices, sounding triumphant, "you can read now."</p><p>Mickey's surprised—she's never sat with him like this before. They're both fond of one another, but Mickey's still the newest of her family, and if he's being honest, he's never really been sure how to bond with a five year old. So he's just kind of been around. He's paid attention and tried to be a good uncle; played with her when she's asked, made sure to get her a birthday present, and tried to find something special for Christmas morning. But he still imagines himself an outlier in her life.</p><p>At least until this moment. </p><p>He can't help but smile fondly then, resting his cheek against her hair as he opens the book. It's too dark, really, to clearly see the words on the pages, but Mickey knows the story by heart, so he recites it quietly, using the same practiced lilt his mother once had, and by the time he's finished, Franny is fast asleep, and he doesn't have the heart to wake her, so he settles back into the cushions and lets his own eyes fall closed.</p>
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